Hurlburt sentenced to year of house arrest
YARMOUTH — Former provincial cabinet member Richard Hurlburt poured himself a glass of water as court stood in recess Friday.
He hugged his wife, Nancy, who was in tears, shook hands with friends and family and chatted with his lawyer.
He had just been sentenced to a year of house arrest at his suburban lake-front home.
Hurlburt had pleaded guilty in April to a charge of defrauding the province of more than $5,000 by submitting false expense claims, totalling $25,320.77, to the Speaker of the House of Assembly.
He also pleaded guilty to breach of trust by submitting false expense claims.
The charges stemmed from the MLA spending scandal, brought to light in 2010.
Three other charges involving forged documents on the five-count indictment were withdrawn by the Crown back in April.
On Main Street Friday afternoon, one Yarmouth resident said Hurlburt should have been locked up.
“Everybody else went to jail and he got house arrest. It’s not right,” said the man who asked that his name be withheld.
“He defrauded the community. It would be different if it was, say, his next door neighbour. It was taxpayers. It wasn’t one person. It was everybody.”
But a Plymouth, Yarmouth County, resident, said house arrest seemed like a suitable penalty.
“It’s rough. I wouldn’t want it,” said Tim Patten. “You ain’t got much freedom. At least he can get outdoors. In jail he can’t.”
Patten said he has no idea why Hurlburt stole from Nova Scotians.
“You know, (he) did a hell of a lot for Yarmouth, I’ve got to give him credit. He worked for us.”
Their comments came hours after Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice David MacAdam rendered his verdict.
“My decision and the reasons for it are rather lengthy,” said MacAdam before he began.
As he reiterated the facts of the case, the judge mentioned that Hurlburt had no mental-health issue to explain why he did what he did.
Hurlburt has said he’s sorry for what happened and is “embarrassed to leave his home,” the judge said referring to reports.
The case of former Glace Bay MLA Dave Wilson was brought up repeatedly during the sentencing hearing.
Wilson pleaded guilty last September in Sydney provincial court to uttering forged documents, fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust. He was sentenced in April to nine months in jail, followed by 18 months’ probation.
Wilson’s attempt to involve others in his deception was the greatest aggravating factor in his sentencing, MacAdam said as he pointed out there was no evidence that Hurlburt involved others.
“Apart from (Hurlburt’s) baseless suggestion that the generator was for community purposes I’m satisfied there were no other aggravating circumstances ... other than abuse of his position of trust,” said MacAdam.
The amounts of money involved in the Hurlburt matter were also substantially less than cases were offenders have been sent to jail, the judge said.
He then sentenced Hurlburt to two, concurrent 12 month sentences to be served at home.
Hurlburt will be on probation for another 12 months at the end of his house arrest. He was ordered to report to a probation officer within two business days.
He must also remain in Yarmouth County, when he’s out and about, and must perform 200 hours of community service before next July.
While on house arrest, Hurlburt may go out in to his yard, but cannot stray more than 30 metres from his home.
Crown attorney Andrew Macdonald had asked that Hurlburt be kept indoors, or “confined to the house,” as he put it.
After court, the Crown attorney said the judge crafted a sentence that he felt was appropriate.
House arrest can work in a case such as Hurlburt’s if it is sufficiently punitive, Macdonald said.
But will Nova Scotians think house arrest is fitting under the circumstances of this case?
“All I can say is ... our job is to ... prosecute those who are charged with criminal offences and I think we did that,” said Macdonald.
Officials cleared the courtroom after the sentence was handed down leaving Hurlburt and his family to talk and discuss what would happen next.
When he emerged from the courtroom with his wife at his side, he stopped to give a brief statement.
“I respect the court’s decision today and I will abide by everything the court has laid out to me,” Hurlburt said.
“My goal now is to show my love back to my wife, my family and my friends and my community and help rebuild my community.”
Hurlburt had apologized to his wife, to other family members and friends as well as his former constituents and all Nova Scotians after pleading guilty in April. He also claimed full responsibility for his actions in the MLA spending scandal.
He would not respond to questions when asked Friday if he would ever seek public office again.
Defence lawyer Stan MacDonald said a conditional sentence is a deterrent.
“At the same time, Mr. Hurlburt’s not a danger to the community and this is an appropriate case for a person to have a conditional sentence,” MacDonald said Friday. “Many, many Nova Scotians who commit frauds get conditional sentences.”
Some people may find house arrest a rather light sentence but MacDonald said, “It’s a deterrent sentence.”
Hurlburt can leave his home for five hours each week to take care of shopping or banking, but that condition is the same anyone else sentenced to house arrest would get, he said.
Two others face trial on charges stemming from the MLA spending scandal.
Independent Dartmouth North MLA Trevor Zinck recently pleaded not guilty to charges of theft over $5,000, fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust. Dates for his trail will be set in September.
Russell MacKinnon, former Independent and Liberal MLA for Cape Breton West, has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of uttering a forged document, one count of fraud over $5,000 and one county of breach of trust. His trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court is to begin next March.
CASE FACTS:
YARMOUTH — Former Yarmouth MLA Richard Hurlburt was sentenced Friday to 12 months of house arrest to be followed by 12 months of probation for defrauding the government.
Here are the facts of the case, previously read into the court record by the Crown.
In December 2008, Hurlburt submitted an expense claim to the Speaker’s office for a Honda generator and the installation of a generator panel at his home.
The claim included a sales order from a company for $9,034.35.
A handwritten note on the $9,034.35 invoice said it had been paid by Visa, and two initials were beside it.
The shop owner said he only gave Hurlburt a quote and never installed the generator. The owner said his company does not accept Visa.
On Dec. 31, 2008, Hurlburt got a cheque from the provincial Finance Department for $17,744.45 and a portion of it, $9,034.35, was for the generator and installation.
The shop owner said he later installed a different generator for $2,602.91.
A claim from December 2006 was for a 40-inch LCD television for Hurlburt’s constituency office.
The claim included an invoice from a Yarmouth store for $3,508.92. The TV was $2,500 and the rest of the invoice was for wiring, installation and taxes.
The TV was not delivered to the constituency office and someone from the store helped Hurlburt carry it to his car.
A technician from the electronics store told investigators he installed audio equipment at Hurlburt’s house. The equipment was for a 40-inch television.
Hurlburt was reimbursed for a TV for his constituency office.
In December 2007 and 2008, Hurlburt submitted two expense claims and invoices totalling $12,777.50 for renovations to his constituency office.
The provincial auditor general and the RCMP determined that no renovations were carried out.
The total fraud was $25,320.77.